Wednesday News and Notes

Wednesday, March 8,
2006

Simply put over the last 26 years, at least 19 of the
greatest college hoops postseasons were here (or at our predecessor scorephone
900 number the Cadillac Club). Last year was vintage
as we finished off college hoops a remarkable 69-37. Five of the last seven years, from conference play through
the Final 4 we hit at least 64 percent. 
We are 1-0 in postseason games, so hop on now or you will be on the
outside looking in.

The first of several reports, all inclusive, has three day
college winners. Note, in the conference tournaments and the Big Dance, we will
update with steam throughout the day. 
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info as it comes in.

CBB

Cal Santa Barbara-Cal Riverside

Press Enterprise

The Highlanders won their last game, 94-87 in overtime,
over UC Davis. Two of their past three losses have
come in overtime, and the team seems to have regrouped since back-to-back
blowout losses to Pacific and UC Irvine.

Press Notes

Junior forward Glenn Turner will miss the Big West
Tournament but senior guard Cecil Brown will play for the Gauchos.  Brown is second team All Conference.

Xavier-Massachusetts

Press Notes

Xavier, 17-10 overall and 8-8 in the Atlantic 10
Conference, lost its regular season finale on Saturday at Massachusetts,
65-56. Xavier has compiled a 15-7 (.682) all-time record in 10 Atlantic 10
Tournament appearances. XU is 3-0 in first round games.

Washington State-Oregon

Press Notes

Washington State
is 2-6 all-time in Pac-10 Tournament games. Ducks have won 10 straight in the
series and 18 of the last 19. Oregon
has won eight of 12 meetings on a neutral floor, including an 8-2 record at the
Far West Classic in Portland, Ore.
Ducks are averaging 68.6 points on offense and give up 64.6 points on defense.
The Cougars lead the Pac-10 in scoring defense (57.4 points per game), field
goal percentage defense (39.0) and 3-point field goal percentage defense
(29.5). Washington State
has led just once at halftime in its last 13 games, 11 of which have resulted
in loss.

Central Florida-East Carolina

Press Notes

The UCF men’s basketball team has
made two-consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament, but will have a new
challenge this season as it participates in the 2006 Conference USA
Championship presented by Aeropostale. The Golden
Knights (13-14) earned the fifth seed at the league tournament and will face
No. 12 East Carolina (8-19) in the first round on Wednesday evening in Memphis,
Tenn.
Dating back
to the start of the 2001-02 campaign, UCF is 10-1 in
conference championship action. The Golden Knights have won six-straight league
tournament games. UCF has a 4-0 edge in the all-time
series with East Carolina and swept the season series
with the Pirates this year. The Golden Knights closed the regular season in
strong fashion, winning three of their last four games.

Cincinnati-Syracuse

Press Notes

Cincinnati,
19-11, closed regular season play with a 78-75 win over No. 16 West Virginia to
finish eighth in the BIG EAST with an 8-8 ledger. Syracuse, also
19-11, finished in ninth place with a 7-9 record following Sunday’s 92-82 loss
to No. 4 Villanova, SU’s third straight defeat.

Though both teams have won over 70 percent of their home games this season,
neither found the home court to be an advantage when the played each other.
Syracuse beat Cincinnati, 77-58, at UC’s Fifth Third
Arena while the Bearcats retaliated with an 82-65 win over the Orange in the
Carrier Dome, the two teams’ largest margins of defeat at home in 2006. The
Bearcats were rated No. 4 in the RPI and No. 5 in the
Sagarin Index in strength of schedule rankings at the conclusion of the regular
season.

Dayton-St. Joseph’s

Press Notes

Dayton
finished the regular season 14-16 overall and 6-10 in the A-10. UD tied Richmond
for 11th place, and is the tournament’s 12th seed by
tiebreaker. St. Joe’s is the fifth seed with a 9-7 conference record and 15-12
overall mark. Saint Joseph’s brings
a five-game winning streak with it to Cincinnati.
Dayton leads the series 14-9, and
has won five of the last six. The Flyers won this year’s meeting 77-69 at the UD Arena on February 1. UD leads
the Atlantic 10 in 3-pt. FG% defense (.303, 167-551),
and is second in FG% defense (.403, 632-1568), 3-pt. FG% (.377, 180-478)…Included in Dayton’s
16 losses are ten that have been by nine points or less. Five of the eight
(Creighton, Vanderbilt, Richmond, Temple
and Xavier) were a two-point game, or closer, in the final minute.

Pittsburgh-Louisville

Post Gazette

After sleeping on their third loss in four games to end
the regular season, the Pitt Panthers met Saturday afternoon and aired some of
their grievances concerning the team as they get set to enter the postseason.
Gray said Pitt has to get back to playing a defense-first approach instead of
the offensive-minded play that has been the norm the past month.

 

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